1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a coated confectionery having a crispy starch based center with a thin rigid outer coating which is preferably a sugar shell coating. The coated confectionery of this invention is highly shelf-stable, particularly since the thin rigid outer shell maintains its integrity even after lengthy storage. The invention further relates to a conditioned crispy starch based center. The starch based center of this invention may be comprised of flour, kernels, grain or starchi from any starch source. The invention also relates to the method of preparing the coated confectionery of this invention and the conditioned crispy starch based center.
2. Related Background Art
Coated confectionery, and particularly sugar shelled confectionery, have long been known. For example, the extremely well known MandM(copyright) chocolate candies are chocolate centers having sugar shell coatings. Other examples include Nestle""s Smarties(copyright), Hershey""s Reeses Pieces(copyright) and the like.
The preparation of coated confectioneries having a crispy starch based center with a thin rigid outer sugar shell presents several technical hurdles that must be overcome to ensure a product having excellent quality. First, the center cannot be soggy. In addition, cracking of the outer shell must be avoided to prevent premature staling of the product. Confectioneries having crispy starch based centers and thin sugar shell coatings are known, but have not avoided these problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,787 describes a dessert preparation including a chocolate coated crisp puffed rice cereal combined with a dessert based powder. It is said that the chocolate coating protects the rice cereal from becoming soggy after the dessert preparation is mixed with water or milk. There is no disclosure or suggestion of conditioning the rice cereal or of coating the rice cereal with a rigid sugar shell coating.
A coated confectionery having a crispy starch based center with a thin rigid outer coating which does not crack even after prolonged periods of storage would be highly desirous.
This invention is directed to a sugar coated confectionery having a crispy starch based center and a thin and continuous rigid outer sugar coating. Significantly, the integrity of the thin rigid outer sugar coating or sugar shell is maintained even after prolonged periods of storage. The thin sugar coating generally has a thickness of about 0.001 mm to about 2 mm, more preferably about 0.3 mm to about 0.7 mm. Preferably, the sugar coating is a high quality sugar shell that is smooth and glossy. The sugar coated confectionery of this invention comprises:
(a) a crispy starch based center having a water activity (Aw) which minimizes volumetric expansion of the crispy starch based center after application of the thin rigid outer sugar coating;
(b) an optional, but preferable, chocolate layer covering the crispy starch based center; and
(c) the rigid outer sugar coating.
The invention is also directed to a method for preparing a coated confectionery having a crispy starch based center with a thin rigid outer coating. The method comprises the steps of: (a) forming a starch based center; (b) drying the starch based center; (c) rehumidifying the dried starch based center to provide a crispy starch based center having an Aw which minimizes volumetric expansion of the crispy starch based center after application of the thin rigid outer coating to the confectionery due to adsorption of moisture by the crispy starch based center; and (d) applying the thin rigid outer coating that surrounds the crispy starch based center. The thin rigid outer coating is any hard candy continuous thin shell that is not highly permeable to moisture and generally is a sugar shell coating. In a preferable embodiment of this invention a chocolate layer is applied to the crispy starch based center prior to application of the thin rigid outer coating.
Yet another embodiment of the invention is directed to the conditioned crispy starch based center employed in the above-described coated confectionery and the method of producing the same.